Skip to main content

Table 2 Importance, availability, and gaps in competency ratings‡, Kansas and Mississippi, USA, 2010

From: A survey tool for measuring evidence-based decision making capacity in public health agencies

 

Kansas n = 190

Mississippi n = 72

Competency

All respondents

State health department

Local health department

All respondents

State health department

District health department

Mean (95% Confidence Interval)

Transmitting Research to Policymakers

Importance

8.8 (8.6-9.0)

9.1 (8.8-9.4)

8.4 (8.0-8.8)***

8.7 (8.2-9.1)

9.1 (8.6-9.5)

8.1 (7.4-8.8)**

Availability

5.1 (4.8-5.5)

5.5 (4.9-6.1)

4.3 (3.8-4.9)***

5.3 (4.7-5.9)

5.4 (4.6-6.2)

5.0 (4.1-6.0)

Gap

3.7 (3.4-4.1)

3.6 (3.0-4.2)

4.1 (3.4-4.7)

3.4 (2.8-4.0)

3.6 (2.7-4.6)

3.1 (2.2-3.9)

Decisions Based on Economic Evaluation

Importance

8.5 (8.3-8.7)

8.7 (8.3-9.0)

8.2 (7.8-8.6)

8.8 (8.5-9.2)

9.0 (8.6-9.4)

8.5 (8.0-9.1)

Availability

5.1 (4.8-5.5)

5.4 (4.8-6.0)

4.6 (4.0-5.3)*

5.6 (5.0-6.2)

5.4 (4.5-6.2)

6.0 (5.1-6.9)

Gap

3.4 (3.1-3.7)

3.3 (2.7-3.8)

3.6 (3.0-4.2)

3.2 (2.5-3.9)

3.7 (2.7-4.6)

2.5 (1.7-3.4)*

Translating Evidence-Based Interventions

Importance

8.7 (8.4-8.9)

9.1 (8.8-9.4)

8.0 (7.4-8.5)***

9.1 (8.8-9.4)

9.4 (9.0-9.7)

8.8 (8.4-9.1)**

Availability

5.5 (5.2-5.9)

6.0 (5.5-6.6)

4.7 (4.1-5.3)***

5.6 (5.0-6.2)

5.8 (4.9-6.6)

5.4 (4.4-6.3)

Gap

3.1 (2.8-3.5)

3.0 (2.4-3.6)

3.2 (2.7-3.8)

3.5 (2.8-4.1)

3.6 (2.7-4.4)

3.4 (2.4-4.3)

Qualitative Evaluation

      

Importance

8.0 (7.7-8.2)

8.4 (8.1-8.7)

7.3 (6.8-7.8)***

8.6 (8.3-8.9)

8.9 (8.5-9.3)

8.2 (7.7-8.7)**

Availability

5.5 (5.1-5.8)

5.9 (5.4-6.5)

4.4 (3.7-5.0)***

5.8 (5.1-6.4)

6.0 (5.1-6.9)

5.4 (4.6-6.3)

Gap

2.5 (2.2-2.8)

2.5 (2.0-3.0)

2.9 (2.4-3.5)

2.9 (2.2-3.5)

2.9 (2.0-3.8)

2.8 (1.9-3.6)

Developing an Action Plan for Program/Policy

Importance

8.7 (8.4-8.9)

9.0 (8.6-9.3)

8.2 (7.7-8.7)***

9.0 (8.7-9.3)

9.2 (8.8-9.6)

8.7 (8.3-9.2)

Availability

6.2 (5.8-6.6)

6.9 (6.3-7.4)

5.1 (4.4-5.7)***

6.0 (5.3-6.6)

6.2 (5.4-7.0)

5.7 (4.7-6.7)

Gap

2.5 (2.2-2.8)

2.1 (1.6-2.6)

3.1 (2.5-3.7)**

3.0 (2.4-3.7)

3.0 (2.2-3.9)

3.0 (2.1-4.0)

Multidisciplinary Partnerships

Importance

8.9 (8.7-9.1)

9.1 (8.7-9.4)

8.6 (8.2-9.0)*

8.9 (8.6-9.3)

9.2 (8.9-9.6)

8.5 (7.9-9.2)*

Availability

6.2 (5.8-6.5)

6.8 (6.2-7.3)

5.7 (5.1-6.3)**

6.2 (5.6-6.8)

6.2 (5.3-7.0)

6.2 (5.3-7.1)

Gap

2.7 (2.4-3.1)

2.3 (1.7-2.9)

2.9 (2.3-3.5)

2.7 (2.2-3.3)

3.0 (2.2-3.9)

2.3 (1.6-3.1)

Evaluation Designs

Importance

7.4 (7.1-7.7)

7.9 (7.5-8.2)

6.4 (5.9-7.0)***

   

Availability

4.9 (4.6-5.3)

5.4 (4.9-5.9)

3.8 (3.2-4.4)***

   

Gap

2.5 (2.1-2.8)

2.5 (2.0-2.9)

2.6 (2.1-3.2)

   

Quantitative Evaluation

Importance

8.2 (7.9-8.4)

8.5 (8.2-8.9)

7.4 (6.9-7.9)***

8.2 (7.8-8.6)

8.5 (8.0-9.1)

7.8 (7.0-8.5)*

Availability

5.9 (5.5-6.3)

6.7 (6.2-7.2)

4.4 (3.8-5.1)***

5.8 (5.2-6.4)

6.0 (5.2-6.8)

5.6 (4.6-6.5)

Gap

2.3 (1.9-2.6)

1.8 (1.4-2.3)

3.0 (2.4-3.5)***

2.4 (1.8-2.9)

2.5 (1.8-3.3)

2.2 (1.4-3.0)

Prioritizing Health Issues

Importance

8.3 (8.0-8.5)

8.6 (8.2-8.9)

7.8 (7.4-8.2)***

8.4 (8.0-8.8)

8.6 (7.9-9.2)

8.2 (7.6-8.7)

Availability

6.1 (5.8-6.4)

6.4 (5.9-6.8)

5.3 (4.7-5.9)**

5.9 (5.3-6.4)

5.7 (4.9-6.4)

6.1 (5.3-6.9)

Gap

2.2 (1.9-2.5)

2.2 (1.8-2.6)

2.5 (2.0-3.0)

2.5 (2.0-3.1)

2.9 (2.2-3.7)

2.1 (1.3-2.8)

  1. ‡ Likert scale 0-10 with higher scores indicating greater importance/availability state vs. local/district health departments: * p value ≤ 0.10; ** p value ≤ 0.05; *** p value ≤ 0.01